My hands tremble as I write this and my mind is left weakened by the things I have witnessed. The contents of this message might be too terrible and unspeakable to believe, but I assure you that it is all very real. For the sake of us all, I urge you, dear Reader, to keep an open mind, and very seriously consider the matters which I am about to disclose.

You might be familiar with “Amnesia: The Dark Descent”, a sort of interactive horror experience supposedly run on Personal Difference Engines. Exposure to it is said to induce nightmares, evoke strong sensations of fear and even reports of involuntary hospitalization has surfaced. Foggy details can be found at its electronic net dwelling, www.AmnesiaGame.com, but it proved not nearly enough to satisfy my curiosity. I felt an urge to learn more about this stygian binary apprehension and decided to seek out its infamous creator, Frictional Games. To do so I had to travel to the remote port town of Helsingborg, located in the dark southern depths of Sweden.

Upon arrival I was overwhelmed by a distinct sense of discomfort. This feeling escalated as I started to ask the townspeople of Frictional Games’ whereabouts. People seemed to shudder by the mere mentioning of the name, refusing to reveal anything which could lead me in the right direction. Only by bribing a local drunkard was I able to find out more about the creators of “Amnesia: The Dark Descent”. Disturbing details emerged from the old man’s frantic babble, haunting my mind as I followed his directions toward the supposed workshop. Approaching my destination, alleyways grew narrower, edifices more imposing and the townsfolk increasingly withdrawn and repugnant.

After an unnerving stroll I found the sought-for address and faced a derelict building, oozing of decay and eons of neglect. Stepping inside I found the walls filled with strange drawings that grew more and more vexing the further in I got. God knows what drove me, trembling as I was, but my thirst for knowledge was strong and I eventually ventured into the house’s underground quarters. Greeting me there was a picture that truly chilled me to the core. So blasphemous was the eldritch creature painted on the canvas, that a mere glimpse almost put me in a frenzied panic. This was not the work of sane men.

The space opened up into a gloomy room with a row of cells at the far end. I carefully approached one of the barred compartments and lit a match to investigate it closer. An overwhelming rush of fear, so strong that I thought my heart would stop, shot through my veins. The lit match fell from my numb fingers and was immediately snuffed by the damp stone floor. Desperately I scrambled to get out and ran towards the door. In my panic I snatched a few documents and stumbled out of that wicked house, fighting my way through the dark alleys, determined to leave this god forsaken land forever.

As I write this, I am browsing through the documents I found, a couple of which I have attached to this message. I have come across a terrible passage, detailing the date of release for this monstrous creation. On the 8th of September 2010 the stars will align and “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” will be unleashed upon the world. I fear for us all.

You might wonder dear Reader, what startled me so inside that murky cellar. Behind those rotten metal bars, a pair of loathsome eyes stared back at me. The ungodly cellar-room painting was not the work of some twisted mind’s imagination – it was a portrait!